At least 46 years of tinnitus but I have adjusted and do just fine. My wife's hearing aids cost $4000 (two aids) but she gets free batteries and a free cleaning once a year. Go elsewhere in the world and they cost a faction....don't ask me why.

I too get my hearing aids from the VA. They do help me to hear in normal everyday life situations. I use shooting muffs with hearing enhancement and loud noise cutoff while hunting or Walker game Ears pm while hunting. No way would I wear my normal hearing aids while hunting. In the excitement of seeing game, you might forget and leave them in when you fire and it will be something you’ll regret not to mention the further damage it will do to your ears. Do they help with my tinnitus? Hmmm? Can’t really tell the thousand locusts are ringing in my ears every waking minute regardless

I'm following with great interest. It's been a year since I've been able to sleep through the night. One year ago today I was assaulted at work. The assault resulted in permanent hearing loss and mind numbing, loud tinnitus...

A manager lured me into his office by asking me to fix a formula on a spreadsheet on his computer that I designed and implemented as part of an analytics Power BI project I was hired to do. I often helped him with computer related issues so his request wasn't anything suspicious. He rolled his chair back so I could access his keyboard. With my head focused on his monitor, without my knowledge he raised a large emergency air horn and pulled the trigger inches from my left ear. I didn't see it coming at all. It felt like he stuck a fork in my ear...

Also without my knowledge, he was filming this on his phone as part of a terrible social media ear rape prank. His intention was to get more likes on social media so his phone would ring to help increase sales. Most of the company's sales came from online efforts. Besides analytics I managed the digital marketing for the company. His desire to get social media likes destroyed my hearing and over the last year impacted my life in ways I never thought would be possible. Besides balance and vertigo issues, I can't hear as well in a crowd. I can't hear female voices or birds singing in my left ear. Music will never sound the same.

I've lost 70 percent of the hearing in my left ear and partial in my right. I'm seeing a board certified ENT but after nearly a year of testing she recently told me that my hearing loss is permanent...

Before I always assumed that people that suffered from hearing loss would just not hear anything and it would just be silent but it's so far from the the truth. The biggest challenge I face daily is the constant ringing in my head. My tinnitus is so distracting that it actually elevated my blood pressure as my body is in a constant state of anxiety. I'm trying to overcome it. I know so many others face much bigger issues but this past year has been challenging.

Did I mention they fired me shortly after the assault? This was right after getting a raise and being told by the owner I was the most valuable employee he ever had... Just in case you hear of anything I'm still trying to make up the loss of income...

In the meantime, the below youtube sound therapy is something that many people find some relief for their tinnitus. It only works if you use full headsets that cover your ears. Try to match the sound to the level of your tinnitus. After you listen for several minutes, slowly decrease the volume and if you're lucky, you'll be blessed with a few moments of silence. Some say it's just enough to help them fall asleep. I usually try to listen to it when I wake up in the middle of the night.



Blessings ~

Blue Moon

Locusts...that's the exact sound! I never could explain to anyone what it sounded like...now I know what to say!

Been wearing one in the right ear for about 4 years and it really helps. Got it at one of the franchise places $1900. I think with free batteries and cleaning. Left ear is real bad , don't know what they can do for it. Have been trying to learn about pricing for the aids and that is hard to do. The one I have now is Oticon brand which I think is good. have heard Phonak is very good and Costco does sell these as well as Kirkland. Still looking so will probably go to Costco and see what they have to offer. The one I have is on it's last leg but still really helps.

Working In corporate America, at my age (51) I feel it would be a death( career) sentence for me. Especially being in sales, more aggressive people are younger in sales. I go to meetings all the time and have difficulty hearing. I sit in front of room and that helps.


Just a matter of time.

Lawyer!

Basically the Veterans Administration's Audiologists say NO. But the last pair of hearing aids I got, last year in June, do seem to help that damn ringing. The tinnitus seems to be quieter, and less irritating, the Audiologist, did not say they helped quieten the tinnitus, just agreed with me. Kind of like saying it's all in the mind.

Had a lot of trouble hearing high pitched noises, VA fixed all of that, checked their free aides (to all us) Priced at roughly 4k, NOW, if a kid screams in a restaurant, I cringe, however everything else is fine, even repairs, batteries and other supplies furnished. Now my Wife is angry because they wont give her any.

btw: now running close to 88 yrs old and if I needed them I would get them.

My granddad loved being hard of hearing, he couldn't hear grandma bitching at him anymore.

To the gentleman that got”pranked”. Anyone that suffers from hearing loss would understand why you would pursue litigation if Texas law allows it. To know someone did that deliberately is unfathomable. The loss of hearing is bad enough but when the tinnitus started with me, it almost drove me crazy. In time, however, I think you kind of get used to it a little but it never goes away. Good luck in your search for some relief. I hope you find it

I wouldn’t worry about the others even knowing you have them in. I’ve had mine about a month and haven’t told friends or family I have them. No one has noticed, they are very innocuous. Get them, it will definitely even the playing field for you.

Too old to start now.

I’ve had it since the early 70’s. I’ll never forget the first time I was stump sitting and heard the “swooshing” sound that a deer makes when they’re walking through a bunch of dead leaves in the fall. I had never heard it before around the year 2000 and was hooked from then on. But again, the hearing enhancement I use while hunting is designed for hunting. DO NOT wear normal hearing aids while hunting or at the range.

How do I get hearing aids from the VA? I was never in country.

My wife and I both had tinnitus, not a ringing sound, but a constant locust/cricket background sound. Hers was worse than mine and interfered with sleep. She got hearing aids and said the cricket sound went away. My cricket sound doesn't really bother me, but I have trouble hearing voices, especially on TV. I have been avoiding the inevitable; it's time to get something done. My veteran friends tell me to go to the VA, but I've never been and don't think I want to go through the hassle. I don't like getting "free stuff" even from the VA. I believe my medical insurance will pay for most or all of it.

"Free stuff" ?

Check your 214,,,was all that FREE ? And believe me the VA is vastly different then it was just a few years ago, I first visited it in 1960, Not even the same organization....And for those "Too old", if your a Vet, you would get a big laugh at this...I have even met with WW2 Vets while there.

For those not that far gone get ear plugs.

I hunted mowed tractor work generator etc. till high school with no ear protect at that time is started using it and its been the savior of my ears.

Bill, they are amazing.

Locally, I get as good or better medical support at the VA as I get through my local healthcare practitioners Have I had some bureaucratic bs to put up with at the national level? Absolutely but the VA is working to weed out those bad apples as time goes by. As far as “free” goes, I remind myself that as an E3, I got paid $100 a month (pretty much the same as my dad got in WWII). So a my buddy describes it, we are finally getting some compensation for what was taken a long time ago

I've been wearing them since 2005 without them in I can't hear chit. Life without them would be a daily struggle. For watching TV I use wireless head phones this way I can still hear TV without driving everyone out of the room.
Price for mine was $3000.00 make sure you purchase the extended warranty came in handy a couple of times.

I wish I would have done this 10 years ago, be warned, it’s was an absolute assault on my senses for about a week. So many things I was missing, my granddaughter makes sense to me know, I never knew so many planes were flying overhead, the fountain machines at Stripes are loud! It was amazing but now I’m used to it. When I take them out at night it’s just crazy how truly deaf I am. I just never realized it was that bad.

Have brother who is deaf in one ear and hearing is very bad in the other ear. He finally got a hearing aid and was surprised at all he was hearing. As he was driving home he kept hearing a noise he could not identify, it turned out to be his keys hitting the steering column.

If you have a DD214, nothing the VA can offer you is free - you've already paid that bill.

I've had tinnitus for over 20 years and my hearing has degraded in addition to the tinnitus. I've had hearing tests that confirm that my hearing sucks and I need hearing aids, but I have constantly put it off. This thread has inspired me to make the call this week to start the process of getting hearing aids. A buddy of mine got them and they have made a huge difference in his life.

Today I did it, bought a new aid and what they call a receiver for my left ear that was really bad. Have new hearing aid in the right ear and the receiver communicates with the right side. Can really tell the difference.

My old aid just did not do the job any more.